Nobody Needs to Know
by WizMonCruWil
Summary: This took an unusually long time to write because I didn't always know where I wanted to go with it. I pretty much went along, chapter by chapter, without an outline written down - something I don't often do. Anyway, here it is - full of adventure and mystery and of course, a Reylo romance. Enjoy!
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

Grey dawn was, at once, both the most peaceful and the most unsettling part of the day for Kylo Ren. It was an uncomfortable blurring between the sharp reliefs that he had followed throughout his life, those reliefs that had always been far more comfortable.

Especially now, with what the grey light illuminated in his chambers onboard the _Finalizer_.

The svelte silhouette of a young woman lay draped across his mattress, cocooned in blissful sleep. Her brown hair spread in a pool around her head, cradling her angelic face that had an utterly content smile upon it, as she dozed and dreamed.

It had not started out this way, to have the young Jedi woman in his bed and in his arms every night. To reach this pinnacle of adrenaline, to pluck this highest of forbidden fruit, had taken time. Many, very much lonely nights - nights of Kylo writhing and moaning, pining for her and the mysterious Force Bond that had already seeped into his skin and soul like drugs through a syringe. But for many weeks after Crait, after she had fled from him off the _Supremacy_ , she had shut him out. And perhaps she had every reason to. He had made the wrong choice; Kylo could see that clearly now. Power had lost all meaning to him, only adding to his misery, not taking away from it.

The first time the Bond between him and Rey opened again was probably quite by accident. Kylo was alone in his room, trying and failing to meditate on something, anything besides her bewitching face when suddenly -

All sound seemed to be sucked from the vicinity, almost with a squelching noise. The shapes of things blurred, like a paintbrush spreading its brushstrokes too hard across a canvas. Except for one shape. _Her_ shape.

For there she was. She was surprised, and not at all happy to see him, at first; that much was clear from her face, and it made Kylo surmise that perhaps she had not meant to activate the Bond at all. Perhaps he had summoned her subconsciously, even though he had been trying very hard to not dwell on her just moments before.

But now she was here. And her presence paralyzed Kylo with fear. Yet still, still, it did not paralyze his movements, as he rose with purpose from his chair and strode over to her, bore down on her, his face hardened with a deep resolve after having only made a split second decision. He was terrified, yes, and yet it mattered not, for he knew what he had to do. No more wasted time. No more denials. What was it that his Uncle Luke had once taught him, about the meaning of courage? _It's when you are petrified to begin, but you begin anyway, because you must do what must be done._

Rey must have recognized the look in his eyes, or read his thoughts like a book fallen open on the ground, for she began to back up, little realizing her surroundings or where she might run into obstacles. This merely played into Kylo's favor. The pair circled each other - well, they had always been circling each other, in some form or another, ever since they had met - but this circling was far more potent. The space between them, rapidly shrinking, was like a bomb that had to be defused, though neither one was willing to make the first move towards that defusion.

Rey finally backed into a wall. Like the expert trapper he was, Kylo stepped into her personal space, pressing both palms into the panels immediately on either side of her. She couldn't run now...

Her eyes flitted down from his, in the direction of his shoes. Or maybe some other destination below his waist... "Please stop," she whispered. Even the sound of the plea was weak; Kylo could hear it in her voice.

"No," he snarled. "You know this has to happen. Neither one of us will get any peace if it doesn't."

The fluorescent lights overhead sparkled on Rey's hazel eyes, clearly accentuating the glistening of tears there. She pursed her mouth in a taut line and shook her head, though the motion seemed to pain her.

"Please don't do this, Ben... I'm not yours to be conquered..."

"Only in your imagination!" Kylo had growled. And then the bomb exploded. Seizing her wrists and pinning them above her head, he swooped down and kissed her wildly on the mouth.

Rey gasped in shock. In retrospect, Kylo had expected her to put up some kind of fight, but she didn't. She just stood still, speechless as Kylo's lips danced across hers.

And then... she _moaned_. She leaned into him the slightest bit, and returned the kiss, sighing at how they finally, after months of foreplay, physically joined in this way. It was true magic, more magical than anything the Force itself could have wielded.

Rey flicked her wrists, snapping them away from the wall, so that her hands were free to sink, caress through Ben's midnight black locks. Her eyes closed with the heavy finality of a freighter door. Their mouths parted for each other simultaneously, tongues and teeth clawing, biting for dominance.

All the while, the Force sang around them, and Kylo concluded that this must be the balance the mysterious energy field had been seeking all along. For what could possibly be better than to have all the power and all the peace in the palms of your hands all at once? A soothing fire, not a burning one, blazed in his heart and all across his bloodstream and he wanted more, more - he would scorch alive if he did not get it. And Kylo could tell, from how Rey clutched at him and her _loud_ , unmistakably carnal thoughts, that she felt the same way.

For days, maybe galactic years, the Supreme Leader and the Last Jedi had made out like two teenagers, before at last, Rey had wrenched herself free. But not, Kylo observed with smug satisfaction, because she _wanted_ to.

"I have to... go to sleep..." And she slurred her words, as if she had consumed too much Coreillian whiskey. Just like that, she disappeared.

In the days afterward, an occasional thought from Rey would slip into Kylo's brain, as if crackling in from a radio frequency just out of range. And most of these blips of consciousness from her were about him. Regret. Anger at herself for giving in. Vowing never to do so again.

Of course, the head and the heart rarely, if ever, operate on the same plane.

The second time Kylo and Rey appeared to each other, he had been stalking down a corridor, brooding as he was wont to do. Upon seeing her, Kylo seized her with speed that could only be attributed to his Jedi reflexes, and dragged her into his chambers. This time, Rey had resisted, but it was very weak.

"Can't-"

"Can," he challenged, hoisting her by her thighs into the air and slamming her into the nearest wall. He mouthed down her neck, attacking the skin there, branding her with a love bite that elicited from her a shuddering gasp.

"Won't-"

"Will," he pronounced flatly, grinding his manliness into her center to illustrate his licentious resolve.

He sensed something sink and pool into Rey's stomach, could smell the scent of liquid flooding her - a liquid that was distinctly feminine. Her legs now spread wide, as if they were their own master.

"God, no, no..." Rey mewled, trying and failing to thrash her head away even as Kylo kissed her sloppily.

"Yes... yes..." Kylo hissed, the confidence oozing from his voice.

Her pants were down by her ankles in an instant, his cock in her hands and being guided, inserted into her wet folds.

Only a little while later, the windows of Kylo Ren's chambers aboard the _Finalizer_ were fogged over. Suddenly, a hand slapped against the glass and slid away, leaving a dewey print. Upon Kylo's bed, Rey pulled Kylo closer. She and her lover were wrapped in each other's arms, kissing tenderly, their sweaty bodies undulating against each other. When they broke apart, Kylo stared at Rey in wonder, as if he couldn't quite believe that she was real. His body began to shiver violently, the absence of her warmth not even completely sealed against him leaving him chilled. Rey's palm caressed his face, her eyes full of loving concern.

"You're trembling..." she murmured.

"Don't worry... I'll be all right," Kylo breathed. And the pair shared another deep kiss.

That was the first time they had made love. The tête-a-tête tryst had soon become a semi-regular occurrence - not nightly, necessarily, for the farewell after each rendezvous was treated as if it was to be their last. Every parting had been conspicuously devoid of promises regarding when they would next see each other again. That suited both Rey and Kylo just fine, and especially Kylo. He had made a career out of promises broken, or at least promises never made. For at the end of the day, that was what the First Order excelled at - refusal to commit at best, open betrayal at worst.

And besides - Solos had never been able to make promises they could keep. So it was futile to try.

Now, in the early moments of dawn after yet another night of lovemaking, Kyo stared down at this woman that had made him feel more alive than he had been in years. He realized what was even more pointless than making empty promises: it was pointless to direct any hatred towards _her_. He only had hatred for the dawn, the rotation of the twin suns above Tatooine that had for the last several weeks been his and Rey's only timekeep to transform endless night into endless day and back again. He knew that he was probably committing treason, even betraying his grandfather's legacy, in sleeping with her. And here was the kicker: _he didn't care_. His thoughts now flew in a thousand different directions - towards her, towards his protectiveness and fear for her, towards his old Master, towards future missions, towards his position and the political arm he admitted to have lost interest in ages ago:

 _"Hey, kid - good morning. You look like an angel. I don't remember when we fell asleep. We should get up, kid - First Order's waiting. Look at us, lying here, dreaming, pretending. I made a promise and I took a vow. I wrote a story, and we changed the ending. Master, just look at me now! Hold on, facts are facts - just relax, lay low. All right, the panic recedes: nobody needs to know. Put on my armor, I'm off to Kamino. Back into battle till I don't know when. Swearing to Hux that I never was with you, and praying I'll hold you again. Hold on, clip these wings. Things get out of hand. All right, it's over, it's done. No one will understand... No one will understand..._

 _All that I ask for is one little corner. One private room in the back of my heart. Tell Snoke I've found one, he'd send out battalions to claim it and blow it apart. I grip and you grip and faster we're sliding. Sliding and spilling and what can I do? Stay in my bed, kid - take me inside you - I promise I won't lie to you. Hold on, don't cry yet. I won't let you go. All right, the panic recedes... All right, everyone bleeds... all right, we get what we need... and nobody needs to know..."_

All of these musings, Kylo willed into Rey's mind, to share them with her. She stirred slightly, a tiny mumble escaping on her breath, but she did not wake.

Suddenly, the tranquility of the early morning, of the couple's blissful solitude, was interrupted by the last intruder Kylo had expected to guard himself against.

"Wow, kid - you sure ain't a kid anymore."

Even though he was lying almost completely prone, propped up only on his elbows, Kylo nevertheless jumped nearly a foot in the air, so that the thin blanket enveloping both him and Rey was launched slightly over them before fluttering back to re-conceal their forms. He summoned his lightsaber to him, his disbelief changing into a challenging snarl, his teeth bared like an attack dog ready to defend his territory. For he was defending his territory, in more ways than one.

The blue, ethereal glow possessing the Force Ghost of Luke Skywalker circled the bed, peering down at a barely clothed Rey with something between surprise, amusement and... fear.

"How long has this been going on?"

"Stay back! No one touches her!" Kylo anticipated the worst, and threw his body over Rey's, his clenched teeth still clearly in view.

Luke stopped dead, raising his hands in a placating surrender. "I am only concerned about my apprentice."

Kylo gave a short bark of a laugh. " _Apprentice_?" he sneered. "She was with you for mere _days_ on that rock of an island; she's told me. And she isn't yours - she's _mine_!" And his grip tightened about Rey's waifish form.

Luke shook his head. "She isn't yours, Ben - not totally. And if you cared one _iota_ about her safety..."

"Don't you _dare_ tell me I don't care about her!" And the growl sat so rough and low in Kylo's throat, he thought he might cough.

A victorious glint appeared in Luke's eyes, his face curling into a startled grin as he peered at his nephew. Kylo desperately tried to see anything ghoulish and evil in his uncle's expression, but he did not have the energy nor the justification to affix those adjectives to the way Luke gazed at him now.

"You _love_ her!" And Kylo half-expected Luke to burst into laughter at the end of this pronouncement.

Kylo said nothing. He realized his mistake too late. Luke had not displayed concern for Rey _herself_ , just her _safety_. If the young man did not know any better, it had been a trap. And he had humiliatingly fallen into it. Even more humiliating was how Luke refused to wipe the smile from his face; the old arrogant Jedi looked like a cat that had just eaten a canary. If it had been Snoke who had discovered this display, Kylo knew exactly what he would say. If the deceased Supreme Leader had not reacted in anger first, he would have been mocking - mocking Kylo's susceptibility to the Light, especially when it came in the form of a woman's tempting flesh: _So... weak..._

Luke's words now were not exactly the same as what Snoke might have said, but they weren't far off the mark, either. "You sad fool. You're already done. And you don't even know it." The chuckle in his voice was apparent. The Jedi Master nodded once in Rey's direction. "Get her home safely. See ya around, kid." And his body faded away, disappeared faster than the snap of a finger.

It would be several more minutes before Rey began to stir in earnest, making tiny whimpers and sounds, her Force essence flickering to life. Kylo bent over her, wishing to kiss her goodbye, but he never got the chance. As she woke, Rey's form too faded. That happened sometimes. Sometimes, the act of her waking would sever the Bond's connection. Sometimes not. Kylo felt a twinge. For the first time since their passionate affair began, he had been anxious to ask her when he would see her again.

As the Tatooine suns encompassed more and more space in his chamber's windows, Kylo remained in bed, pondering over the unwanted visit from his uncle. He had to hand it to the old man: both later in life and in death, Luke had become more skilled in knowing how and when to play his cards right. Han Solo - smuggler though he might have been - had never mastered such a skill, and that liability had ultimately cost him his life.

Utterly exhausted, and unable to think of anyone or anything other than Rey, Kylo flopped back onto his now empty bed - the bed still marked with the indentation of his lover - and fell back to sleep.

* * *

 **A/N: Like it so far? PLEASE Review as much as you can! I want to know your opinions, I really do.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

The last thing Kylo wanted to do was depart on a mission for Kamino. But Armitage Hux had advised him on his need to go. Actually, if Kylo was being honest with himself, Hux had pretty much _ordered_ him to go.

"It is imperative that you go to Kamino, Supreme Leader. It is vital to our war efforts." It wasn't exactly an order - it could, in fact, be construed as a friendly suggestion. If Hux was adept at anything, it was dancing on the line of outright insubordination, but never quite crossing over it. Cautiously ambitious. Kylo knew deep in his bones that Hux was scheming to overthrow him and usurp the throne. Yet the potential for treason and a coup, from Hux or anyone else, did not concern him. It should matter not what Hux thought or wanted, or at least that was what Kylo kept telling himself. The man had about as much personality as a sour tangerine. And he was a half-wit besides. The fact that everyone else in the First Order knew this, except for Hux himself, made the Armitage all the more insufferable. Yet Kylo could not be bothered to put the ginger coward in his place. Watching the sheep fancy himself a wolf was genuinely good entertainment, and it was one of the few happy things in what was left of Kylo's miserable life, other than Rey, that the Supreme Leader was not about to give up.

But what was most definitely _not_ entertaining was how Hux kept questioning Kylo about the night of Snoke's death. About the girl, Rey. About why Kylo thought fixating on the minuscule Resistance was more important than strengthening the First Order's forces.

"Your focus on the Resistance and the scavenger Jedi is more than ardent. Are you falling in love with her?" the Armitage had asked at one random point, following an almost random train of theory in the hopes of tricking Kylo into saying something damning.

Kylo would never let Hux know how uncharacteristically perceptive he was in that moment, and thanked the stars that Hux did not possess the Force to invade his mind for the truth. "You doubt my motives, Armitage?" And he tightened the Force around Hux's windpipe - not dangerously so, but enough to get his point across.

"No... no, my Lord," Hux's eyes bulged.

"I will follow your advice regarding Kamino, Hux, but this is the last time you presume to know the ways of my own mind."

Kylo dropped Hux to the floor, ignoring his subordinate's wheezes and gasps as he swept away.

* * *

The one factor that had swung the Kamino mission grudgingly into Kylo's favor was the fact that he wouldn't be going alone. He was taking all six of his Knights with him.

The prospect was an exciting one, for missions that featured all the Knights of Ren as one unit were very, very rare. Individualized assignments were much more common, with Knights being paired off at most in twos and threes.

As it was, the scope of the mission required the chartering of a freighter, meaning Kylo could not use his much-preferred TIE shuttle. Ordinarily, Kylo would have piloted the freighter himself, and had every intention to, until Hux helpfully informed him that an elite Stormtrooper had been assigned piloting duties, serving as their chauffeur. Oh, the indignity!

And so here Kylo was, surrounded by his Knights in the back sitting area, which also served as a kitchen. Going around the table, Kylo surveyed face to face: five rambunctious men and one woman.

Kylo did not hold the gaze of Lombard Ren for long, but not because the Supreme Leader was afraid of him, oh no. Lombard had a notoriously anti-social disposition. Lombard was often proud to say that he was a perfectly normal member of the First Order, thank you very much. In truth, he was anything but. Within the Knights of Ren, he was the Beta to Kylo's Alpha. The hatchet man. The goon who was willing to do the dirty work that even Kylo thought beneath him, and even more so now that the latter was Supreme Leader. Aloof, one might say sadistic in a way that left even his fellow mercenaries squeamish, Lombard was largely tolerated by the others, but not much else.

Brevet Ren was the exact opposite on the Knights' personality spectrum. Meek, and adorned with horn-rimmed glasses, he had been the last Knight recruited out of Skywalker's old Padawans the evening the Temple fell, and also the youngest. And it was no secret that the boy - probably no more than sixteen at the time - had done so largely out of cowardice. It was either join or get slaughtered with the other Padawans: sad, naive fools all even younger than him. Brevet was a follower, not a leader - always had been. Every decision, every rape, every murder, every pillage he weighed was for the sake of following the crowd, even if he took no pleasure in the act itself. If that was the signal of some sort of conscience, so be it. Kylo knew that if any of his Knights were ever tempted by the Light the way he had been ever since Rey entered his life, it was Brevet who would naturally be the most susceptible.

A snap of jaws and a chortle made Kylo whip his head to the far end of the table, where Cassian Ren had just popped a nut into his mouth. He was the jokester of the bunch, always ready to find some wisecrack even in the middle of a violent campaign. This talent had its uses in diffusing any tension within the Knights and amongst themselves, and ever since Rey, Kylo had been relying on this levity, however forced, more and more.

Gaia Ren was the only woman of the group. She largely held a no-nonsense matronly presence within the Knights, and though she was neither Alpha nor Beta, she still commanded a lot of respect. Her maturity could keep the others in line when even Kylo nor Lombard could - a corralling that was especially beneficial to Cassian. Even if there wasn't an official third-in-command post, Gaia nevertheless filled it.

Kylo should have felt happy, sitting with his brothers-in-arms. Yet he was not, his thoughts drifting whenever they could to Rey. Once upon a time, the Knights would have given him the greatest comfort within the hard life of a Dark Side user, but now... he felt disconnected from the very group he had helped to form.

"Kylo, wake up!" Cassian chuckled. "What's wrong today? You look as though you've seen a ghost." He poured his master a glass of Coreillian wine, in a silent urging that Kylo loosen his tongue and explain what was going on.

Kylo gave a mirthless chuckle. "A ghost, you say? A ghost, maybe. She was just like a ghost to me - one minute there, then she was gone."

The other Knights exchanged surprised glances; a few of them featured knowing grins. Ha! If only they _really_ knew...

"You did not mention, our Lord, that you had taken another mistress!" Cassian hooted. "A woman!"

"More than that!" Brevet sent a boyish grin Kylo's direction. "A nymph, I bet!"

The comparison of Rey to a nymph made Kylo crack the slightest of smiles.

"And here I thought you got all your fixes with Gaia here!" Xavier Ren, a more scholarly Knight who occasionally indulged in Cassian's needling, snickered, pointing at Gaia.

Gaia frowned. She and Kylo had engaged in relations only a time or two, more out of sexual starvation than anything else (there were few female officers in the First Order, and concubines were technically not allowed), but it had not lasted. The reminder now made Kylo slightly sick. He felt strangely... _unfaithful_ somehow. Gaia had been an admirable partner, but she was not Rey...

"Yeah, but hearing them go at it was better than listening to Lombard here!" Cassian said. "I've heard the poor bastard hump at his pillow, heard his thoughts: _'Me want banana. Me climb tree!'_ "

All of the Knights, even Kylo, burst into laughter; the exception, of course, being Lombard, who scowled.

"How primitive! How primeval!" Kylo drolled in amusement.

Lombard took a brooding hit from a vaporator as the laughter began to die down, his pale skin turning a gradual shade of red. "Will you assholes just shut the kriff up?" he snapped, stamping the butt of the vaporator out with the toe of his boot.

* * *

It would take several galactic days to reach Kamino from where the First Order fleet was concentrated above Tatooine, so after dinner, the Knights retired to bed, pairing off into bunks. Lombard was the odd man out - an arrangement that catered well to his standoffish ways. And it didn't bother anybody that Gaia would be paired with Theseus Ren; it was an open secret that the two of them were fucking regularly.

Kylo himself bunked with Brevet. On the whole, he liked the young man who still exuded an almost childlike charm. He was funny, and didn't seem bothered whenever Kylo drew into himself. And if truth were known, Brevet was the kind of person who could listen to almost anything.

Just as he did now, as both Knights lay awake in their bunks for several hours after the life of the ship had quieted away. Though he had his thoughts, particularly the ones about Rey, well blocked, Kylo could sense Brevet probing at the outer reaches of his mind through the Force, picking up on traces of feelings here and there.

"Are you in love, Kylo?" Brevet asked, a teasing, affectionate edge to his voice. He clearly remembered the pining Kylo had alluded to at dinner.

"Yes," and Kylo almost moaned the reply, staring off into the darkness in front of him. It was startling how easily the admission was drawn from him. He was in love with Rey - he'd stopped denying it ages ago, and even more so since the ghostly visit from his uncle.

"Then, why is she merely your mistress? To be romantically involved with the Supreme Leader... you should take her as your wife, give her all the riches a girl could only dream of..."

"One day!" Kylo snapped, a little harsher than he meant to. "Then I'll deserve her..." For it had never been a question of whether Rey deserved him - _that_ was a question only she could answer, and it was an answer that Kylo wasn't about to presume he knew. No, it had only ever been a question of whether _he_ deserved _her_ , especially after everything he'd done. "She's not like any other girl, Brevet. She's purer than you or I."

"I should think so!" Brevet chuckled, plopping back onto his pillow from where he had been leaning almost out of his bunk to talk to Kylo above. "Perhaps you should bring her to a First Order ball."

The thought of Rey dressed up, much less for a First Order function, made Kylo laugh out loud. "Hux wouldn't like it," he dismissed, and even though the excuse would be very much accurate as far as Rey was concerned, it still rang of bullshit. Indeed, Brevet was quick to call him out on it.

"Since when have you ever cared what _Hux_ thinks?" the younger Knight scoffed. For he shared Kylo's disdain for the ginger-haired Armitage - all the Knights did.

"Hux would not deem her proper for me, as the Supreme Leader," Kylo shrugged. But even saying these words made him see red, as if Hux had actually expressed such a haughty opinion himself.

"Well, if this mystery girl of yours is as charming as you say, perhaps he'd change his mind," Brevet advised.

Kylo knew that Brevet did not mean anything bad by this comment. He was genuinely trying to be a good friend - or, at least, the closest representation to a friend Kylo had ever had. Still, it wasn't as though Kylo could ever take up Brevet's advice. Kylo couldn't. He most _definitely_ did not want Hux finding out about his affair with Rey. It would be the slimmest of excuses for Hux to make a play for power, citing treason. And Kylo certainly did not want any of his Knights discovering the truth. Not even Brevet, to whom he had just given a kernel of the truth - the closest he dared come to confessing anything to anyone. Not Gaia. And _especially_ not Lombard. If Lombard - the brute! - knew about Rey... the thought made Kylo shudder.

Sealing up his thoughts and mind tight, Kylo rolled over in his bunk and willed himself into sleep, dreaming of his precious Rey...


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

The mission to Kamino was a resounding success. Kamino had been long sought-after as a potential ammunitions supplier for the First Order, and their reputation was renowned thanks to their involvement in the Clone Wars. Getting the Kaminoans' commitment was quite an accomplishment.

But even so, Kylo's heart wasn't in it. During negotiations, he had let Gaia and Brevet do most of the talking. Gaia was an effective negotiator in her own right, balanced by Brevet's natural charm. Lombard was not much of a talker, preferring to express himself through bloodshed and sheer ruthlessness. Thankfully, he kept himself almost as stonily silent as Kylo during the mission.

A few mornings after the Knights' return, Kylo found himself alone in his room. Suddenly, his surroundings blurred -

And there stood Rey. This time, her face lit up into a beaming smile, and she ran into his arms. Kylo clutched her close and kissed her, breaking it after a few moments with a relieved sigh.

"I missed you, Rey."

"Where have you been?" she stared up into his face, concerned. "You closed yourself off to me the last several days..."

Kylo drew his mouth into a tight line. He knew he couldn't tell her what he had been up to, as she was still with the Resistance. But he couldn't lie to her either. So he kept his answer truthfully vague. "A mission. Supply recruitment."

He thought she might press him further, attempt to weasel some intelligence out of him, but instead she merely asked, "Was it dangerous?"

Kylo smirked. "No. Boring as hell? Yes. But I feel much better now that you're here."

She peered at him, surprised by the admission.

"I love you," he whispered.

The words were out before he had even fully thought through them. Rey gasped, her breath hitching. Her now-wide eyes filled with tears. Oh no... Kylo could not bear to see her cry, or hear what he suspected she would say next. "I'm sorry, I..."

"I've been... _dreaming_ of hearing you say that... since the forest!" Rey sniffled, burrowing her face in his chest.

"I've wanted to say that since then," and Kylo chuckled, in spite of himself. There was a pause until he ventured tentatively, "Do you... love me too?" If she denied it, he did not know what he would do. Something drastic, maybe. Like jump off a balcony. Or suck himself through the ship's airlock.

She hiccuped, choking on her tears. "I love you!" she cried out.

Euphoria. Kylo suddenly felt like he was flying. Like he had just cast Force lightning. Like nothing could touch him. Every muscle and nerve turned on and he was blissfully alive. Rey loved him. _Him_! He waited, rocking her softly, until Rey's crying died down. She wiped at her eyes, smiling tearfully and sheepishly.

"Sorry."

"Never say you're sorry for something like that, my love."

He felt Rey's lips curl up again. "Keep calling me that."

"What, _'my love'_?" Kylo chuckled, tightening his arms about her.

"Yes," and she gazed up at him. No sight was greater than what Kylo held in his eyes right then: Rey's smile. It was a smile he hoped he would look at for the rest of his life. Pulling her close, the lovers shared a deep, dizzying kiss.

The door to his chambers hissed open unexpectedly. "Master, I..."

Brevet Ren stopped dead. Rey and Kylo broke apart, their arms still around each other; Rey's eyes were suddenly paralyzed with fear, even after Kylo threw her behind him protectively.

For a long, palpable moment, there was silence. And then -

" _I don't believe it_! You..."

"Brevet..." Kylo tried to talk his friend off the ledge.

"You and _her_!" That Brevet both saw Rey and recognized her identity was devastatingly clear. "So _this_ is your mystery girl!"

"Brevet, listen to me, please," Kylo begged. "I can explain..."

Brevet twisted away, eyes blazing, and Kylo's heart sank. He should have known. Brevet was more empathetic than the other Knights, but he wasn't _that_ empathetic.

"I have no other choice! I have to report you for treason to Hux. Inform Lombard too." And Brevet turned towards the door.

No.

Brevet suddenly pitched forward, his body flinging forward so that he crashed headlong into the side wall. He crumpled in a heap in the corner, knocked out by Kylo's Force Push.

"Sorry, old friend," Kylo murmured sadly. He turned frantically to Rey. He knew he was about to eat crow, but like Brevet before him, he had no other choice. "I need to get out of here. I should have done it a long time ago. Where's the Resistance?"

Rey gaped at Kylo with something between amazement and pride. Then she suddenly grabbed him and planted a wild kiss on his lips.

"Naboo. Theed City. Be careful," she implored. And her image faded away.

Leaving Brevet still unconscious in the corner, Kylo fled for his TIE shuttle. Not even waiting for clearance (he was the Supreme Leader, after all), he launched himself into deep space and plotted a course for Naboo. His grandmother's homeworld.

He set a course for Rey.

* * *

The Resistance surrounded his TIE fighter as soon as it landed. Even as he powered down, Kylo felt himself shaking. Had he just made an incredible dumb and potentially life-ending mistake? Even now, he could feel his mother's Force essence drawing closer and closer. Would she have him arrested? Executed on the spot seemed more likely.

Only the flicker of Rey's Force signature - calming and sighing and gentle - willed Kylo to lower the ramp.

Poe Dameron and several pilots tackled and cuffed him immediately. Through the tangle of bodies, Kylo could see the imposing figure of his mother, despite her slight physical stature, overseeing the arrest. Only her eyes betrayed any emotion. Shock. Confusion. And perhaps he just imagined it... hope? Otherwise, Leia Organa was unreadable.

Safely in custody, Kylo watched as Poe began to give the order: "Take him away..."

"NO!" And a petite body suddenly bulldozed into Kylo, throwing its arms around his neck. The earthy smell of her brown hair invaded his nostrils. Rey...

"If you lock him up, you'll have to lock me up too!" the young Jedi promised.

Poe had no choice but to shackle his own ally. Rey insisted on no less than being literally chained to the prisoner, the man she loved. As both were led away, she craned her neck to gently kiss him when no one was watching.

"Everything's going to be all right, Ben. I promise," she whispered.

Thrown into an impenetrable cell, both were unchained from each other. The minute the door shut, they were in each other's embrace - physically, not just through the Bond - kissing furiously. Squeezing onto the single cot together, former Supreme Leader and budding Jedi fell asleep in each other's arms.

All either of them could do now was wait.

* * *

After several days of lying together in the dark, the sudden light of their cell door opening blinded both Ben and Rey. The Resistance guards brought the couple before a military tribunal, even though Rey was not formally charged with any crime. The judge addressed the Last Jedi first.

"Jedi Knight Rey, you wrote a petition asking for mercy regarding the man known as Kylo Ren, born Ben Solo, urging there be no death penalty?"

"I did," Rey answered. Ben turned towards her, shocked. He had seen her working late, by the light of the moon, on some sort of document while they were in prison, but he had never imagined it would be about _him_.

"The generals have heard your plea. If Ben Solo is granted his life, you would promise to place this man under your care and protection?"

"I would," Rey replied strongly.

"Very well," said the judge. "Ben Solo will be allowed to walk freely on Naboo. He is only allowed to move off-planet under the supervision of Jedi Knight Rey and his person will be monitored by a tracker. Court adjoined."

Ben could not believe it. He was free. Essentially marooned on Naboo except when traveling with Rey, but free nonetheless. As the courtroom emptied, he swept Rey up into a breathless kiss. His tears fell on her face as he cradled her cheeks in his palms.

"You saved my life. How can I ever repay you?"

Rey smiled gently, knowingly. "Teach me the ways of the Force. And help me find Force-sensitives to train into Grey Jedi." Her fingers lovingly caressed his face. "We can build a new Order. Together. Deal?"

Ben thought for a moment. He had already left the First Order behind, all his power. And it wasn't as though he could go back, even if he wanted to; Hux had probably proclaimed himself Supreme Leader by now. If this was a second chance at life, well...

"I just want to be with you." He kissed Rey fiercely. "Deal."


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

The shuddering of the thrusters shook Ben awake rather rudely, as he felt the _Millennium Falcon_ losing altitude. They were beginning their descent. Turning his head, he was met with Rey pecking a kiss upon his lips.

"Good morning," she murmured with a smile. "We'll be landing soon."

Yavin IV would be their first stop in searching for Force-sensitives, on a recommendation from Poe Dameron. The hotshot Commander had grown up there, and knew the planet held a special significance in the war against the original Empire. And in the history of the Jedi.

"There's the ruins of a Jedi Temple there, deep in the forests," he had explained to the couple. "The General always says how the Force is strong on that planet."

Now, slipping off the _Falcon_ , Rey and Ben proceeded on a journey into the crowded city. As they entered the marketplace...

A flicker of a pulse. A pulse in the Force, its energy concentrating particular hard around one area. One being...

"You feel that?" Rey turned to her lover. Ben nodded, sensing it too.

Like a metal detector following the draw of metal, the two Force Users were guided right to the center of the Force's concentration to find -

A little girl, no more than five years old, huddled against a stall. She was trembling, clearly from hunger, as her body looked terribly emaciated. Rey's heart broke at the sight. She understood that feeling all too well...

Rey and Ben knelt before her, and when the three pairs of eyes met, the little girl shrank further against a clay jar by the stall, trying to disappear into the shadows.

"It's all right," Rey extended a hand. "We're not going to hurt you."

The girl didn't move, eyeing Rey warily.

"What is your name, child?" Rey asked quietly.

The response was provided almost in a whisper, so that Ben had to strain to hear it. "Sofia..."

"She says Sofia," Ben reported to his lover. Turning back to the youngling, he tried to smile kindly at her. The muscles in his face resisted almost; he hadn't smiled in so long, never had a reason to. The expression to him was almost foreign, and thus far had only ever been brought on by just being with Rey. "Where are your parents, young one?"

Sofia shrugged, as if the question didn't bother her, and Ben wondered how many times she had been asked this. "Haven't got any."

"Tell me, Sofia, have you ever heard of the Jedi?"

Sofia's eyes sparkled for just a moment, but then faded out, like the flame from a match refusing to catch. "They're not real," she murmured almost despondently.

Ben's smile grew wider, even as his own heart sank. He wondered how much of his sordid past had caused this little girl to lose hope in the legends and stories of heroes. Heroes like his uncle. His parents...

"You sure about that?" And he manipulated the Force to swirl the dust particles around their feet into the air. Sofia gasped, eyes sparkling again, and this time, the light didn't fade.

"You're a _Jedi_?" she breathed in awe.

"I am," Ben said quietly, even if he felt he was only just beginning down that path. "And so is my... friend." He stumbled on the last word, for he had almost referred to Rey as his... wife.

"And you can be one too," Rey told Sofia gently. "The Force is strong with you. Would you like to come with us? To train?"

Sofia pondered the offer. Ben could sense her thoughts, weighing every option. Whether she could trust these strangers. Memories assaulted him, of Sofia trusting others in the past, others who beguiled her with similar promises, only to be betrayed by these false friends later.

"We aren't like that," Ben soothed. "We would never lie to you." He gazed deep into Sofia's eyes, and she back at him. And in that moment, something passed between them, the former Supreme Leader and this mere street urchin - the mutual understanding of some common destiny.

"Look! There he is!" Ben and Rey and Sofia's heads all snapped in the direction of a pair of Stormtroopers, charging through the market towards them. First Order.

"Back to the _Falcon_ ," Ben hissed. Rey scooped Sofia up and the trio charged back to the ship. Ben dragged behind for just a moment at the ramp, letting the Stormtroopers catch up with them before killing both with the Force. Leaping aboard, the ship blasted out of Yavin IV airspace. Back for Naboo.

* * *

Poe was waiting for them when they landed. "Hey!" he smiled, spying Sofia nestled in Rey's arms. "There's one! Any more coming down the ramp?"

"No," Ben shook his head in Poe's direction cordially; the two men were slowly but surely beginning to come to terms with one another. "Wish we had, though. But we got cut short," and the young Solo sounded genuinely disappointed. "First Order showed up."

Finn and Rose slowed out of a jog coming up to them, Leia strolling a slight distance behind.

"You mean this is the only one you picked up?" Finn asked.

Ben and Rey nodded. There was a brief silence.

"Well, you'll always make another run. Find more on other planets, right?" Rose ventured hopefully.

"We will," Ben conceded.

"But now might not be the best time," Leia held court. The others all turned to her. "If the First Order found you so easily, they might know you and Rey are searching for Force-sensitives to rebuild the Jedi."

"Forgive me, General, but the answer might not be that simple," Finn ventured. "The Stormtroopers could have been looking for... _Ben_." Everyone was still getting used to referring to the young Solo by his rightful name. "Hux might want him."

"What would Hux want _me_ for, Finn?" Ben asked, instantly regretting how annoyed he sounded. "He has all the power now."

"True, but you're still the former Supreme Leader," Rose pointed out. "He's probably hunting you to make a public example of you." And she drew a line across her throat grimly to emphasize her point. "As long as you're alive, you are a rival to Hux's consolidation of the throne and therefore, a threat."

"Plus, you guys arrived on Yavin IV on the _Millennium Falcon_ \- one of the most recognizable ships in the galaxy," Poe admonished as delicately as he could.

Ben's body tensed as he realized, for the first time, his and Rey's crucial mistake. "We're such _idiots_ ," he whispered to his girlfriend. "They probably went on high alert as soon as we made contact with the landing authorities."

"Or a spy went running to the First Order," Rey theorized.

"In any event, going out for more Force-sensitives now will alert Hux to a pattern," Leia mused. "Even if he doesn't know what you and Rey are up to yet, my son, he will find out eventually. Perhaps it is in the best interests of everybody if you both focus on training this little one first. Then you can tackle finding and training multiple students when you are ready."

Poe nodded in approval. "It's decided. Don't worry, my friends - you'll have your Academy soon. But for right now, I think the child is in need of a fine supper."

And he guided the group towards the base, and within it, a hot meal.

* * *

Ben, Rey, Finn, Poe and Rose all sat together in a huddle in the Resistance mess hall. Most of them had yet to touch their food, even though they were all starving. They were all too busy watching Sofia in awe.

The little girl ate as though she did not know if she would ever have another meal again. Whole slabs of chicken were gnawed right down to the bone. Glass upon glass of water was guzzled until she had built up a pretty impressive stack of empty cups. Peas, potatoes and other appetizers seemed to virtually disappear. With every new concoction put before her, Sofia's deep blue eyes gleamed ravenously. The lights overhead sharply highlighted the gauntness of her pale white skin around her cheekbones. She was as skinny as a rail.

While most of the others were stunned (Rose even looked like she might cry), Ben was rather amused. "She eats like a starving Wookie," he leaned over and whispered in Rey's ear.

When the tiny child could not hold another bite, she refrained from letting out a burp. "Thank you for the meal, Mr. Dameron, sir," he referred to the Commander politely.

Poe seemed positively tickled by this. "She called me Sir!" he practically giggled to Finn.

"Don't get used to it," Finn said through clenched teeth. Though his eyes were twinkling.

Rey now stood. "All right, young one. Time for bed." And she scooped Sofia up into her arms, not noticing how the others, especially Ben, were stealing curious looks at her and at each other. For Ben in particular, he felt a strange sense of... peace wash over him seeing Rey with the tiny thing. _She's so good with her..._ he thought. Standing from his own place at the table, he strolled bemusedly behind the two girls, back towards his and Rey's chambers.

Rey's insistence that she and Ben share a room and a bed had initially caused an uproar amongst the Resistance. It had been difficult enough for them to accept Ben to their cause, but witnessing him embark on a romantic relationship with their precious Jedi was something that a few officers, even now, struggled to abide. But Rey had been adamant, and assuaged Ben's concerns, as he did not wish to make waves any more than he already was by his presence alone.

"I want to sleep by your side every night," she had whispered. "It kept me sane when we were apart. And I _never_ want to be apart from you again."

Now, Ben waited just outside the door to his and Rey's chambers, letting her help Sofia get acclimated to the space. Inside, Rey was showing the little girl where everything was, including the cot pushed against the far wall. Finn had arranged that it be placed there soon after the trio had arrived home.

"Is everything to your liking?"

Sofia didn't reply, instead expressing. "I've never had one of my own before."

"What, a room?" Rey smiled sympathetically.

"No. A bed."


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

Rey had deep trouble falling asleep that night in the bed she and Ben shared. All she could think about was Sofia's admission. _She's never even had her own bed..._ Where _had_ she slept, then, if not in a bed? The dirt in the midst of the street? A marketplace stall? The dense jungles of Yavin IV? Buffeted by the elements, the cold, wind and rain?

Rey was still deeply disturbed as the sun rose the next morning, as she and Ben prepared for the day. She could not take her eyes off the little girl, curled up so tightly under the blankets - perhaps the first she had ever known - that she looked like a cadaver. Rey felt Ben press a gentle kiss to her temple.

"What's wrong, my sweet love?"

Rey turned to him, her face betraying immense distress, her eyes filled with tears. "Did you know she's never even slept in a _bed_ before?"

Ben smiled down at Rey sadly. "Of course, I'm outraged to think that she hasn't. But, I'm not surprised." He rubbed a hand down Rey's arm gently. "Every planet has its hidden people. The poor and destitute. It's never easy to see. Sometimes, it wasn't even when I was still Kylo Ren. And Yavin IV is one of the more fortunate planets. Sofia could have had it _much_ worse somewhere else. Jakku, maybe. You, of all people, should understand that. Know what that feels like."

Rey could not hold his gaze, staring down at her form that was only just beginning to feel less waifish, more well-fed. Have curves that felt more womanly. "Yes. I know what that feels like." And then there was the memory of watching Sofia gorge herself the night before, as if she had never eaten decently in her life. Steeling herself, Rey suddenly got an idea. "We should have her see a doctor."

Ben beamed down at her, understanding. And deeply moved by how much Rey wanted to help, to give. He kissed her softly. "All right. I'll stop by the med ward and ask for an appointment with Doctor Kalonia."

* * *

Despite his slowly dwindling pariah status, Ben was able to get an appointment with Doctor Kalonia for that very same afternoon. He waited in the ward, filling out paperwork regarding Sofia as best he could, until the girls arrived. Sofia babbled on and on to him about Rey had taken her out into the fields just beyond the base and given her an initial lesson in the Force. At last, Doctor Kalonia called them in to see them.

"OK, let's see what we have here..." the Doctor ran several tests, measuring Sofia's vital signs and other physical attributes. After the examination, Doctor Kalonia asked to see Ben and Rey privately.

"Sofia's nutrition is below normal for a child her age. I don't know what she was eating and scrapping for herself on Yavin IV, but whatever it was does not constitute a healthy diet. But what really concerns me is that she is deeply deficient in one particular area."

Rey leaned forward. "What's that?"

"Calcium," Kalonia reported gravely. "We don't know the identity of her mother, but whoever she was, I have serious doubts that Sofia was ever properly weaned after birth, if at all."

Ben stroked at the light beard coming in around his chin, frowning in deep concentration. "Weaned, ma'am?"

"What she needs is to be nurtured. Nursed."

"Nursed?" Rey stared. A thought dawned on her, and she shifted uncomfortably. "Are you saying that I should...?"

"I am. You would be a natural substitute, Master Jedi." Kalonia took Rey's hand and gave her a soothing smile. "It is not as uncommon or unnatural as you think. There are children Sofia's age who still depend on a mother's milk."

"But I've never even _been_ a mother! Given birth!" Rey gawked. She felt her position deeply, and found her cheeks burning.

"Maternal instinct or status is not necessarily an impediment for breastfeeding," Kalonia explained.

That night, Rey and Ben set Sofia on the young woman's lap. Though it did seem awkward at first, with the adults' encouragement, Sofia suckled her fill of milk from Rey's breast. Rey cuddled the little girl close throughout, and as she gave this child a part of herself for sustenance, she felt a warm feeling pooling deep in her chest.

Love. Love and protection and concern for this little child who had fallen, almost literally, into her and Ben's laps.

* * *

Overtime, Ben, Rey and Sofia became a more cohesive and compatible unit. The little five-year-old now rose with the sun alongside the two Jedi. Most mornings, the trio spent out in the fields and beautiful wilderness beyond Theed City and the palaces of Naboo. Ben and Rey would teach Sofia little lessons in the ways of the Force, gradually working their way up to bigger ones. When they weren't training, Ben would take the girls on tours of Naboo, pointing out the architecture and culture and history. Once, he even snuck the three of them into the old summer house that had once belonged to his grandmother Padme Amidala, the planet's former Queen.

At night, Sofia would fall asleep in her little cot in Rey and Ben's chambers, often to Rey stroking her chocolatey-brown hair and singing a lullaby:

 _"Rock-a-by... hush-a-by... go to sleep, little baby..."_

In the middle of one night, Ben was awoken by a load of weight pressing down on the mattress of his bed. Sitting up, he found Sofia perched on the edge of it, clutching a stuffed Porg doll that Chewbacca had gifted her. At first, both she and Rey had freaked out, thinking it was a stuffed rendering of an actual dead Porg (Chewbacca had never liked the little beasts during his brief stint on Ahch-To while Rey was training with Luke Skywalker). Ben had spent hours calming both of the girls down.

"Sofia?" Ben now frowned. "Are you scared? What is it?"

"I... I had a bad dream," and Sofia's cheeks flushed.

Ben frowned in thought. Then, he reached through the Force Bond and gently nudged his lover awake. "What is it?" Rey yawned.

"Little One had a bad dream," Ben explained, using his nickname for Sofia.

"Why don't you sleep with us?" Rey suggested.

Sofia eagerly agreed, snuggling up between Rey and Ben's warm bodies. Gradually, both girls fell asleep. Oh so gently, Ben reached out and enveloped both of his bedfellows in an embrace. The trio melded together like the pieces of a puzzle. On the whole, it felt perfect and natural and _right_.

The very next morning, the three Force wielders met up with their usual crowd of friends in the mess hall. As Poe and Finn and Rose chatted amiably about the coming duties for the day, Ben turned to Sofia next to him.

"Now, sweetheart, what is it that got you so scared last night?"

Sofia paused in her eating for just a moment, her eyes darting down before she admitted in a whisper. "I dreamed that Kylo Ren was after me."

Instantly, the chatter at the table died down. Indeed, Finn and Poe seemed to freeze. Rose, in the midst of bringing a glass of juice to her lips, kept it dangling awkwardly in mid-air.

Rey looked slightly queasy. Ben, for his part, seemed close to crying. "Have..." He cleared his throat to keep his voice from squeaking in odd places. "Have you dreamt of him before?"

Sofia pouted her lips and nodded, the fear clearly swimming through her mind and her essence in the Force. "Whenever I was caught swiping food or made to labor in the marketplace, the adults would always say that if we weren't good, Kylo Ren would come and snatch us up."

Ben's eyes now sparkled with tears. Recalling the lesson on courage his Uncle Luke had once taught him, he decided he needed to be brave and honest now. "Well, Sofia, Kylo Ren will never hurt you again."

Sofia peered at him curiously. "How do you know?"

"Because Kylo Ren? That guy... was _me_. _I_ was once Kylo Ren. Master of the Knights of Ren," and he pointed at himself with a shaking finger. Sofia looked horrified, and perhaps even looked as though she wanted to scramble away from the table. "But I am not that guy," Ben amended quickly. "Not anymore. And I would never... _ever_ hurt you. Yes, I've done some bad things in my life, but I don't want that kind of a life anymore. The Force, and every living thing around it, has dark and light inside of it. I would never, _ever_ hurt you, Sofia. Do you understand?"

Slowly, Sofia nodded. And she shocked everybody by giving Ben a crushing hug. He stiffened for just a fraction of a moment, before tentatively hugging her back. Sofia now scooted off her seat. "I'm going to find Chewie. He promised to teach me how to work with tools on the _Falcon_." And she bounced away, as if nothing disturbing had happened.

Rey was crying, and not even bothering to hide it. "She was a _slave_? Made to work and verbally abused like I was? Where were her parents? Who were they?"

"Where and who indeed?" Poe sighed despondently.

The questioning gave Ben a sudden and new sense of purpose. "I don't know. But I intend to find out."

Rey stared at him. "How?"

In truth, Ben did not know. But he wasn't about to let that stop him. "I'll find a way! I'll go straight to the top - to my mother herself! Even if she _is_ the General of the Resistance!"


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

It did not take much convincing on Ben's part to get his mother to agree to the plan. In truth, the aging General had come to care for the little girl as deeply as the rest of the Resistance had, and wanted to find closure for Sofia in any way she could. Leia ordered an official investigation, led by Poe Dameron himself. Being a native of Yavin IV, it was thought that he could find the best answers amongst the people of his homeworld. Armed with a sampling of Sofia's DNA, Poe took a team to the planet to scour for clues and answers. Finn went with him.

After a few weeks, Poe sent Ben and Rey a hologram. "We've got it," he said cryptically. The very next day, he and Finn and the others returned to Naboo to report their findings in person.

"Sofia appears to be descended from one Arthur and Meredith Bennett. They were working-class vendors in the marketplaces near the former Rebellion base."

Sofia, who was present for the summit, leaned forward eagerly. "What happened to them?"

Finn and Poe looked at each other. "Sofia, I'm afraid your parents passed away, a long time ago," Finn explained gently.

"Our evidence estimates that she could not have been more than three months old at the time," Poe added.

Sofia looked crestfallen, sadly turning away from the two men as she attempted to process this information. "You mean... I'm an orphan, after all." And for the first time, Ben could clearly see how much the issue of her parents really bothered her. Oh, she could do a good job of tamping those feelings of abandonment down (and had), morphing into indifference or some other emotional outlet. But still...

The young Solo now knelt before her, his hands on her shoulders. "I love you, Sofia Bennett."

Sofia beamed at him, her eyes watery. "And I love you." The pair hugged, Rey drifting over to join them.

That night, as Sofia slept in her cot, Ben and Rey cuddled and kissed and tried to comfort one another over the new information they had just discovered about their little charge. Rey leaned her head on Ben's shoulder as he stroked her hair.

"Those five years almost... she must have been so scared..." Her sniffing soon escalated into full-blown weeping. "Sometimes... I wish that I had carried her inside me... I wish that I had given birth to her..."

Ben cupped her chin in his palms and held her eyes. "I know." He kissed her soundly, their lips moving in tandem and growing in passion even as they tried to remain quiet, for the little girl's sake.

"Rey... is there anyone I would have to go to in order to ask permission to marry you?" Ben spoke the question suddenly, prompting Rey to break the kiss and gaze up into his face. She was clearly taken aback, not expecting a proposal. Finally, she murmured:

"Well... maybe we should ask..."

"Sofia?" Ben chuckled, and he kissed Rey again.

* * *

Rey and Ben's wedding was held in a Resistance court of law, with a judge - not a priest - presiding. Ben was dressed in an old, handsome tuxedo that had once belonged to his father - the very one Han Solo had gotten married in and the only one the old smuggler had ever owned. Rey borrowed General Leia Organa's wedding dress, looking like an ethereal princess in the blinding white. Finn stood beside Ben as the Best Man, prompting many snide former employer-former employee jokes. After being unable to come to an agreement about who should give Rey away, both Poe and Chewbacca walked the Last Jedi down the aisle.

The judge now blessed the couple and began the ceremony: "Ben Solo, do you take this woman to be your wife?"

"I do," Ben pronounced proudly, never more sure about anything in his life.

"Rey, do you take this man to be your husband?"

"I do," Rey beamed.

Everyone then expected for the judge to pronounce the couple husband and wife. But instead he asked, "Will the one they call Sofia please step forward?"

Sofia, the flower girl for the wedding, drifted close to the witness stand, surprised. "Yes?" she asked tentatively, startled when both Rey and Ben knelt on either side of her.

"Rey Solo, will you love this child and raise her as your own?"

"I will," Rey's eyes filled with tears.

"And would you lay down your life for her, if circumstances demanded it?"

Sofia's head whipped to Rey's, hardly able to believe her ears. "Rey!"

"I would," Rey swore, her voice refusing to bobble.

The judge now turned to Ben. "Ben Solo, will you love this child and raise her as your own?"

"I will."

"And would you lay down your life for her, if circumstances demanded it?"

"I would," Ben growled protectively, the very thought of anyone or anything threatening this little girl making him see red. He wouldn't let _anything_ happen to Sofia.

Sofia looked from one Jedi to the other, comprehension dawning. "You... want to _adopt_ me?" There was a pregnant pause as both Rey and Ben looked at her nervously, unsure how she might react. They had never discussed the possibility of adoption with her before, wanting to surprise her this way. But finally, Sofia's eyes filled with tears. Weeping, she nodded.

The judge smiled. "I now pronounce this couple and their charge husband and wife and child."

Sofia leapt into Ben's arms. Scooping her up, Ben then pulled Rey close and kissed his bride, so that their new daughter was almost smushed between them. The entire courtroom devolved into cheers and tears of joy.

* * *

It was a sunny morning at the Resistance base a few weeks later, with the Solos joining their friends for breakfast. Finishing her plate, Sofia glanced up at Rey with a smile.

"Mama, can I go to the _Falcon_ and play with Chewie?"

Rey smiled tenderly down at her adoptive daughter. "Yes, you may. Be back by lunchtime."

Sofia kissed her mother on the cheek, followed by another peck for her father. "Bye, Daddy!"

"Bye, Little One," Ben beamed, watching her skip away to the hangar.

The famed ship was empty when Sofia got there, and Chewie was nowhere in sight. That didn't bother the little Force-sensitive. Knowing where the tools were kept, she hopped down the trapdoor into the bowels of the ship, fetching them. Ever since she had arrived on Naboo, Chewie had been grooming her into an effective mechanic, with Rose occasionally providing her own pointers. Someday soon, Chewie said that he was going to take Sofia out for a spin and teach her how to fly.

All at once, Sofia felt the ship rock, the thrusters hum to life. Staggering around on her feet to get her balance, she grabbed the toolbox and climbed out the trapdoor, heading for the cockpit.

"Chewie, you didn't mention we would be flying today..."

"Don't you move! Don't you _fucking_ move!" a low voice barked - not unlike the voices of the slave drivers Sofia had encountered on Yavin IV.

Sofia was stunned to see that the cockpit was crammed with people all dressed in black. And in the captain's chair sat the unmasked face of Lombard Ren.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

For the record, it had not been Brevet's idea to sneak into an enemy base and hijack the _Millennium Falcon_ right from under the Resistance's noses. That brainchild belonged solely to Lombard Ren. Knowing that Hux wanted to find and capture his immediate predecessor, Kylo, Lombard had delivered his plan to the other Knights in the simplest of terms, for it was his style to effuse cognition any more complex than merely pairing a noun with a verb. It was a matter of logic, Lombard had said, sounding strangely like Xavier Ren in that moment, minus the fancy vocabulary: they would steal the _Falcon_ , in the hopes that their former Master would be near or aboard it at least a majority of the time. For it was clear from the intelligence the First Order had gathered on Yavin IV that Kylo was at least not a detained prisoner, sitting in a cell. What would make more sense than for Kylo to be perhaps sequestered near his father's ship, where the Resistance could better keep an eye on him?

However, it was now clear that Lombard's line of thinking had been seriously flawed, as the Knights now beheld not their former Master, but rather a little girl.

Lombard swiveled out of the captain's chair that had once belonged to Sofia's adoptive grandfather, Han Solo, and advanced on the little Force-sensitive menacingly. "Who are you?"

Sofia tried to open her mouth, but no sound came out. She couldn't bring herself to say those two words - Sofia Solo. Lombard, being naturally short-tempered, quickly lost patience and seized the young girl by the collar. "Answer me!"

Sofia quickly felt a deep anger surge through her in the Force. Gone was the fear she might have felt, once upon a time, when an Unkar Plutt-like figure would scream abuse at her. "You won't get away with this! My dad's Master of the Knights of Ren!"

It was a critical error, for unbeknownst to Sofia, she was in the presence of that very elite group. Indeed, Lombard blinked, a rare moment of vulnerability flashing across his face. However, it was quickly replaced by a twisting, grotesque sneer.

"You _lie_!" Lombard flung Sofia away from him with the power of the last word, so that she skittered across the floor of the ship. "I am the Master of the Knights!" His hand flew to the lightsaber at his belt, as if he was intent on using it.

"Hold it!" Brevet suddenly dived between the pair. "Are you seriously going to use your weapon on a child?!"

"But she's lying, Brother Knight!" Lombard seethed. "She's -"

"She's talking about Kylo, dumbass!" Gaia snapped from the co-pilot's chair that was normally Chewie's domain. Theseus and Xavier gawked at each other, murmuring 'Kylo' almost reverently under their breaths. "Congratulations: we just captured the former Supreme Leader's daughter!"

"Way to go, Lombard!" Cassian scoffed, for once without a joke to lighten the mood.

"Still, she _lies_!" Lombard bawled. "I have never known Kylo Ren to ever conceive a child with any of his mistresses. And for such a child to be of the Resistance - it is impossible!"

While the other Knights were busy arguing over whether or not Sofia was being honest, Brevet remained silent, deep in thought, occasionally adjusting the spectacles on his face. He glanced back towards the child, and got an idea. As gently as he dared, he approached Sofia, where she remained as she had landed after Lombard had thrown her. Predictably, she shrank back, towards the curved walls of the ship.

"Don't be afraid. I'm not gonna hurt you," Brevet murmured softly. And he placed a hand on her forehead.

Immediately, her memories assaulted him through the Force. He could sense the powerful energy field coursing through her veins, flashing recollections like slideshow plates, or a movie slowed down and played back frame by frame. A starving child, forced into deep manual labor. Cold nights, desperate to sleep. Escaping with Kylo and the Jedi on the _Falcon_. The child suckling milk from an unidentified woman's breast. Kylo in a tuxedo with the Jedi in a bridal dress, kissing and cuddling Sofia close - the happiest day of her life, he noted. When she was...

 _Adopted_...

"She's telling the truth," Brevet announced to his companions. Lombard gave a scoffing laugh.

"How? She..."

"... was not conceived, but rather adopted," Brevet reported. "By our former Master, now known as Ben Solo, and the Last Jedi, his bride to whom he is now married."

The other Knights gawped in abject disbelief. Even Lombard appeared flabbergasted, though he was the quickest to recover. His anger at being shown up (and now proven wrong) by this little girl had faded away, to be replaced instead by something resembling triumphant glee.

"I do believe we can make this... _snag_ in our plan work to our advantage."

* * *

Supreme Leader Hux surveyed the display put before him: the six Knights of Ren, surrounding a wisp of a girl, bound in shackles. His mouth was drawn in a tight, peeved frown.

"I told you to bring me Kylo Ren. Not some... child!"

"But, Supreme Leader - the adopted child of Kylo Ren!" Lombard tried to emphasize in his protest.

"Still not good enough!"

Lombard scowled. Clearly, he had no admiration for Hux's imagination, or rather lack thereof. "Have you, Supreme Leader, ever heard of a thing called ransom?"

Hux paused, his interest now piqued. He gave a silent jerk of his head, urging Lombard to continue his train of thought - likely the most strenuous one the Knight had ever undertaken.

"We could use her as bait and lure Kylo Ren right to us! And the Last Jedi, now his wife! Did you ever think of that?"

Lombard had preyed successfully on Hux's most devious instincts. The Supreme Leader now had a wicked smile painted across his lips. Still, his voice remained droll and correct, almost uninterested, as he gave his verdict.

"Well... then I suppose your mission was not a total loss after all. Take her away! Into the detention cell block!"

"Wait," Lombard interrupted. "Who shall guard her?"

There was a brief pause, before a voice rang out, "I will!" Brevet raised his hand to volunteer.

Lombard nodded. "Take her to the detention cell block."

Seizing Sofia's shackles, Brevet led her away. He guided her through a maze of sleek corridors, and with every step, Sofia felt them sinking further and further into the bowels of this massive First Order ship. At last, they arrived in a hallway lined with thick durasteel doors, with only a tiny flap at both eye-level and at a person's feet. Brevet guided Sofia into one cell. It was much too big for her, larger even than the room she shared with her parents, but it was better than a cell of alternative size and accommodations.

And as soon as the door closed behind them, Brevet began to remove the shackles. Sofia watched him, confused. "What are you doing?"

"I'm not going to chain you to the wall or anywhere else," Brevet told her. "As long as I'm guarding you, you are free to move about your cell. It is your responsibility to rechain yourself if anyone else is assigned to supervise you, but I will try to make sure that doesn't happen often." Done with the chains, he proceeded to empty his pockets, with what Sofia discovered as scraps of food that Brevet now pushed into her tiny hands. How and from where he had managed to smuggle in such sustenance, Sofia did not know, and Brevet left these questions unexplained.

"You won't starve. Not on my watch," Brevet vowed. "There really should be exceptions for First Order starvation policy. Besides, your father would never forgive me."

"You knew my father?" Sofia stared.

The awe in her voice made Brevet smile. He couldn't help it. "Yes, I knew your Daddy. Knew him well. Still do." But in reality, he wasn't so sure if he knew who Kylo was anymore. Now that Kylo was apparently Ben Solo.

The pondering was like an itch that Brevet felt he had to scratch. And the reality that he was keeping a little girl prisoner made the itch grow only more uncomfortable.

A little girl who now, by all rights, was...

He decided there was only one thing to do. Straightening, he stared down at Sofia.

"Keep quiet. And stay in your cell. The others might not be as understanding of you as I am. I'll be back."

And he swept out of the cell, stealing his way back around to the main hangar bay where the _Millennium Falcon_ was parked. He trusted Sofia to stay where she was. She seemed like a good little girl, one who would stay in line and out of trouble and do what she was told. And Brevet had every intention of doing his job and guarding her.

But first... he had to make a call...


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

When Rey had initially gone to the hangar bay to fetch her daughter at lunchtime, and had found the _Falcon_ gone, she had not been concerned.

She had figured that Chewie had taken Sofia and the ship out for a spin; Sofia had mentioned something about Chewie wanting to teach her how to fly the famous freighter soon, and Rey had encouraged her. She knew that piloting was a very valuable skill to have.

But then, Rey had seen Chewie running around the hangar bay, moaning and growling and tearing his fur out, as if he was frantically looking for something... or someone...

He wasn't on the _Falcon_. And the _Falcon_ was gone. And so was Sofia. Something was wrong.

When she first told her husband, Ben descended into a blind panic. Rey could feel it in the growing hysteria building through his Force essence, even as he physically hid it well by taking charge and organizing a search party that quickly grew to feature nearly every member of the Resistance. He spent hours grilling Chewie on what had happened since breakfast that morning, his desperation and volume mounting with every question: When was the last time you saw Sofia? Were you ever on the ship? Did you see anyone suspicious _board_ the ship? Did you loan it to someone and forgot that you had? By the end, poor Chewbacca was practically in tears, and Ben was angrily yelling at him in fluent Wookie, complete with curses.

By the time evening arrived, there was still no sign of the _Falcon_ or the little girl. Poe corralled everyone into the command center to regroup, and also to try and calm everyone down. Most everybody was crying, or had cried at some point. The atmosphere was incredibly on-edge. After exhausting every innocent explanation, and then discovering that the _Falcon_ had departed from the hangar on an unauthorized take-off procedure, Ben and Rey came around to fearing the worst: Sofia had been kidnapped, perhaps even by the First Order itself.

"But what would they want with her?!" Rey wailed. "She's just a child!"

"She's a Force-sensitive child, Rey," Poe had reminded her gravely. "That could be valuable to Hux. How, exactly, I cannot say. Or she might be valuable to..."

"The Knights," Ben suddenly breathed, his face draining of color. And even as he thought of his former compatriots, his blood ran cold. He could see it, sense the premonition through the Force. He turned to Rey. "I know what happened to our child. The Knights somehow got in here and hijacked the _Falcon_... while she was on it."

Suddenly, Lieutenant Connix's voice rang out from a nearby command module. "Master Solo! We're picking up a hologram transmission. We're tapping into the call right now." She stared at him wide-eyed. "It's from the _Falcon_."

And at that very moment, a voice rang out:

"Kylo? Kylo, are you there?"

* * *

Lightyears away, Brevet Ren slipped into the hangar bay aboard the _Finalizer_. The whole area was eerily quiet, deserted, but even so, he crept through the shadows, constantly looking over his shoulder to check that no one was watching. It was a skill he had honed painfully and relentlessly, undergoing dangerous missions at Kylo's and sometimes Snoke's bidding.

Lowering the ramp and breaking into the _Falcon_ was easy enough. Moving into the cockpit, Brevet tinkered with the various bells and whistles. Force, it had been a long time... he racked his brain to remember any frequency controls. And then there was actually getting through to the Resistance. The First Order had collected intelligence of plenty of Resistance transmission codes, so that would not be the hard part. The difficulty would be in making the connection from the _Falcon's_ end.

The blue light of the hologram successfully turned on, as Brevet finally managed to tap through on an older Resistance code. The holographic image of a woman appeared.

"Who are you? State your purpose."

"My name is Brevet Ren, of the Knights of Ren. I am an operative of the First Order. I need to speak with the man formerly known as Kylo Ren."

The woman's eyes grew wide, almost anxiously excited. "One moment." And she called off to someone Brevet couldn't see, and her voice was muffled so he couldn't hear what the receiver of the call was saying.

He called out, "Kylo? Kylo, are you there?"

* * *

Ben dove for the holographic image that was apparently being emanated from his father's ship. When he discovered the caller's identity, he nearly fell over.

" _Brevet_?"

"It _is_ you! I need to tell you something!"

Instantly, Ben felt the Force roar to life inside of him, the fire of anger in his gullet. "You're _damn_ right you do! Start talking! Why did you take my child?"

"OK, just for the record, it wasn't my fault. And it sure as hell wasn't my idea. It was Lombard's."

" _Lombard's_?!" Ben shook at the thought of his trigger-happy Beta Knight.

"I know, he's an idiot. And it was an accident. You gotta believe me, Kylo. Our original intention was to swipe the _Falcon_ and hope _you_ were on it. Capture you, and bring you to Hux. We had no idea Sofia was on the ship."

The mention of his daughter made the breath leave Ben's body. "Sofia! Where is she? What have you done with her?!"

Listening just behind her husband, Rey ran out of patience. "Give me the hologram. Move over." She nudged Ben out of the way so that she was now in the hologram's range. As soon as she was, she began screaming at Brevet without even exchanging introductions.

"Give me my daughter back! She's just a child! Please... please..." Rey quickly broke down, choking on her own tears as she tried to talk. Her voice now shook as she drew forth in a deadly whisper, "I swear to God, I'll kill every last one of you..."

Even from lightyears away, Brevet could feel the torrent of emotions bombarding him through the Force. Anger, revenge, anguish, sheer panic. The depth of this woman's connection to Sofia disturbed him almost. He did not know much about the Last Jedi, this... _Rey_ , other than from First Order propaganda or the little that Kylo had told him. But Brevet knew he did not want to make an enemy out of her anymore than he already had, if he could avoid it. He put his hands up so Rey could clearly see them, a symbol of placating surrender.

"I believe you. And you needn't worry, Maser Jedi. Sofia's safe... for now."

"For _now_?!" and so high-pitched was Rey's shriek, Brevet was almost afraid she might reach through the hologram and throttle him. Or maybe choke him through the Force. He suspected this girl was powerful, and did not want to find out just how much.

"She's being well-fed!" Brevet talked over Rey quickly, as if he didn't have enough time to get the words out. "I'm smuggling her extra rations from the mess hall. And she's not chained up. I've been assigned as her guard and I intend to keep it that way for as long as I can. I'm breaking enough prisoners of war guidelines as it is! Believe me when I tell you, madame, that I don't want to hurt her. But..." and his voice became grave. "There are others who might."

"Lombard," Rey guessed. It was a statement, not a question.

"My fellow Knight. And our leader. He was second-in-command when your husband ruled over us. He's very... volatile. He was ready to kill Sofia at one point when he thought she was lying to him. Introspection is not his strong suit."

Rey looked back to Ben, who nodded in grim agreement.

"But I'm going to try and keep Sofia away from him and anyone else who might do her harm," Brevet promised.

Rey was silent for a long moment. She had only ever heard a smattering of information about the Knights, from her husband on evenings when they would stay up in bed and talk after making love, long after Sofia had fallen asleep. Finally, she growled, "What do you want?"

"Lombard and Hux are gunning for ransom. Most likely Sofia in exchange for your husband, or even both of you. Personally, I don't think this plan was well-thought through, either. I think Lombard came up with it to cover his ass when his original scheme spectacularly backfired. The one thing he refuses to tolerate is being laughed at, or being shown up, and whether she meant to or not, Sofia did that. She embarrassed him. She's a feisty one, I'll give her that."

Rey smirked for just a moment at this. Thinking of her daughter made her heart twinge, and she asked plaintively, "Can I see her?"

Brevet's eyes flitted uncomfortably, nervously. He even looked furtively over his shoulder at one point, as if he was afraid of being discovered. "I will do what I can. Give me a second." And the hologram suddenly crackled and sputtered as it tried to maintain the connection. Rey watched as Brevet ducked out of frame. Then the hologram winked out. A few moments later, however, it came back on again, and Brevet re-appeared.

"I recalibrated the hologram transmitter from the _Falcon_ so that it's mobile. I'm taking you back to her cell."

For several minutes, all that could be heard was the sound of Brevet's footsteps. Then, the sound of a steel door opening. "Sofia," Brevet's voice could be heard calling, and he sounded strangely distant. "Someone's here to see you..."

And suddenly there she was, looking healthy and whole and alive. Sofia's face broke out into a beaming smile at the sight of her adoptive mother.

"Mommy!"

"Baby!" Rey spoke the word through a choked sob. "Did they hurt you?"

"No."

"Did they _touch_ you?" she growled.

"No, Mama. Mr. Brevet's been feeding me and letting me move around." She smiled gratefully off-camera, presumably in Brevet's direction. "He's my friend."

"We're going to come rescue you, sweetheart. We promise," Rey vowed with every fiber of her being.

"I know you will," Sofia smiled. A pause, then: "Mama?"

"Yes, baby?"

"... Will you sing?"

Rey gulped hard, her eyes stinging. Nevertheless, she attempted to softly sing her little girl's favorite lullaby. " _Rock-a-by... hush... a-by..._ " She couldn't finish, collapsing in sobs next to the console, which soon prompted Sofia to begin weeping. Brevet watched the whole exchange silently, even as he ran a hand over his face, guilt eating away at him. _Fuck_...

He let Sofia and Rey tearfully bid each other goodbye, before gently taking back the transmitter.

"Brevet?" Rey asked, her voice slowly coming back to something more steady. "Do you know... if any other Knights... might be more sympathetic towards Sofia?"

Brevet frowned, his face drawn in a tight line of contemplation. " _Maybe_ ," he postulated slowly. "I would need to find an angle to get through to them, but if I keep at it long enough, I might be able to convince at least _some_ of them to leave Sofia alone."

"Even Lombard?"

There was a suspenseful pause as Brevet considered this. "I don't know. Sofia has humiliated him, in his mind, so she's on his radar. And now he thinks she's useful, to get to you. Where there's hope is that Lombard is pretty much retarded. Half the time, I feel like I'm dealing with a white-washed gorilla. If I can manipulate him _just_ right, he'll turn into a wamp rat distracted by a laser pointer. But I'm going to have to manipulate him while making it look like I'm _not_ manipulating him. We'll see."

Rey's voice shook and Brevet could clearly see, even through the hologram, that there were tears in her eyes. "Thank you," she forced out. She handed the transmitter back to Ben.

"Brevet, I'm holding you on your honor. Keep my daughter safe. And... be careful."

Brevet nodded. Then he ended the communication.


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

It had been a hard and exhausting night. Sofia had cried herself to sleep on the floor of her cell; not even the temptation of sweets and other foodstuffs offered by Brevet could waver her from her feelings of utter hopelessness and despair. She seemed convinced that she and her precious parents - adoptive though they were - would never again be together.

Finally, in the wee hours of the morning, Brevet had departed from his post after first checking that the door and the rest of Sofia's cell was secure. But just before he left, he indulged in the Light Side of the Force, just this once, as he placed a hand on the little girl's forehead, using its power to try and lift her spirits even as she dreamed. "Have heart, and take courage... _cousin_ ," he willed his thoughts to her. Securing the cell, he headed upstairs, towards his and his fellow Knights' favorite hideout.

It was very rare that the Knights ever got to experience moments of leisure. Lightsaber training, Force meditation and a plethora of other duties left little time for pleasure. But when not on missions or doing other work in the name of the First Order, the Knights had their own kind of clubhouse - a room aboard the _Finalizer_ available just to them. It even required a Force-activated keypad just to get in.

And the joint was jumping now, as Brevet stepped into the club, even though it was technically the middle of the night. A Jukebox played cantina tunes famous in the dive bars of Tatooine and Takodana, to which Gaia was softly swaying; she looked a tad tipsy. Theseus and Xavier were hustling a game of space pool against the far wall. Cassian was sprawled on a couch in one corner, leaving through a Coruscanti tabloid. And Lombard was perched at a desk opposite, checking security camera footage - one of the more relaxing and mundane tasks the Knights had to accomplish. It wasn't much of a chore.

Brevet approached the Knights' leader first, thinking through one last time what he was going to say... and how he might do so without getting run through by the Alpha Knight's lightsaber. Lombard must have felt him approach through the Force, for he said tersely:

"I thought you were supposed to be guarding the girl."

"She's asleep," Brevet reported, trying and failing to not sound annoyed. Did the guy think he was an idiot? "And her cell's locked up tight. She's not going anywhere."

His shortness and conscendination prompted Lombard to eye Brevet tightly for just a moment, but he must have decided that pressing Brevet on his tone was not worth the effort. "Whatever." And he turned back to the security footage.

Brevet tried again, this time taking a moment to find his voice. Even so, it came out a little tentatively when he expressed, "Hey, Lombard: this might sound crazy, but I don't think that kid's dangerous."

"What are you talking about?" Lombard scoffed.

"I mean... she's not really put up a fight. Rebelled. In fact, she's a model prisoner."

"As she should be, if she knows what's good for that scum she calls her parents. Tell her to keep it up and she may be handed back over to the Resistance alive. Her help in capturing Kylo and his Jedi whore will be well rewarded."

Brevet visibly winced, as he tried to figure out how to keep the conversation going. "Or..." he suggested, trying to float the proposition as casually and as innocently as he could. "We could just... send her back. No strings attached."

He could hear the muscles in Lombard's back crack as he stiffened, clearly not amused. " _What_? _Why_?"

Brevet tried to relax, forcing a smile on his face even as his heart felt like it was beating out of his chest. "Lombard, think about it: we send her back, it's like it never happened. Everything goes back to normal!"

Lombard swiveled around in his desk chair to face Brevet at last. "And why exactly would we want things to go _'back to normal'_? We have a chance to end the..."

"... because capturing an innocent five-year-old girl - a _child_ \- was never part of your original plan," Brevet pointed out. "You told us that you wanted to get your hands on Kylo Ren, and only Kylo Ren. But it didn't work out that way, did it? And now capturing him is just taking up even more of your time. Admit it, Lombard - _you_ made a _mistake_."

In rehearsing his spiel, Brevet had not exactly intended to come in this hot and heavy this early - a caution that he was reminded of quite clearly as Lombard now sprang out of his chair, overturning it, and ignited his lightsaber, the red blade crackling and sputtering even worse than Kylo's ever did. "I did not!"

The activity in the club suddenly and abruptly stopped. The Juke box seemed to almost malfunction in how fast Gaia powered it down. Xavier completely missed a shot on the space pool table and sent the eight ball flying, so that it crashed down on Cassian's head. "Hey!"

"Yes, you did," Brevet contradicted Lombard, feeling his confidence oddly start to grow with every word he spoke. "You just managed to pull a rabbit out of your ass and save face in front of Hux. Make Sofia somehow relevant to Kylo and the Jedi - which, by the way, was in no small part due to _me_ , thank you very much. This whole operation was _your_ idea, and when we hit a snag, you weren't about to take ownership of it. And now you're stuck in a bigger ditch - we all are."

"What exactly are you saying?" Lombard growled, his voice dangerously low.

"I'm _saying_ we don't need the _girl_!" Brevet snapped, starting to lose his patience.

"Yes, we do. Yes, we fucking do! She's the bait..."

"... for two people that the Resistance is never going to hand over to us willingly anyway! You think you have checkmate here, but you don't. You should be afraid of Kylo hunting us down and gutting us all for this! And you should _especially_ be afraid of the Jedi!"

"The _scavenger_?!" Lombard spat derisively, and he looked like he wanted to laugh.

"Yes, the scavenger. She'll stop at nothing to get that little girl back."

"And how do you know this?"

Brevet lied quickly, using the Force to block his thoughts, shut out the truth that he had spoken to the very woman and read her distress. "I sensed her bond with Sofia when I read her memories through the Force. They love each other to death!"

"She's _adopted_ , according to you!"

The other Knights were beginning to gather around, taking in the argument.

"Well, maybe you don't understand how families work, because you never had one that gave a damn about you! I DID! And so did Ben!" Brevet exploded.

The air seemed to get sucked out of the room at the mention of Kylo's real name. Lombard's eyes widened and he pointed a shaking finger at Brevet.

"I know what this is about. You have _compassion_ for the little brat!"

"And what's wrong with that?"

"Snoke always said compassion was bad..."

"Snoke isn't _here_!"

"AND NEITHER IS KYLO!" Lombard bellowed. "And it's just as well he's not! Oh, he was always weak when it came to the Light! And now he's run off and married a Jedi!" He spat on the floor at his feet in disgust. "And anyway, why are you all so conflicted all of a sudden?"

"Because, _Lombard_ ," Brevet snarled through clenched teeth. "Did you ever consider the fact that maybe - just maybe - we've been fighting on the wrong side all this time?"

There was a long silence. Gaia and the rest of the Knights all began glancing at each other and shuffling their feet awkwardly. A deep, existential question had just been thrown at them with little - actually zero - time to prepare. And it wasn't as though any of them was anxious to speculate on an answer. Brevet now turned and addressed the rest of his brethren for the first time.

"Use your feelings, all of you - something is out of _place_ here. Look around you - we're fighting amongst each other! Our purpose is drifting. And even when we did act as a team, we were doing some pretty dangerous stuff - raping people, pillaging villages. And now we've stooped so low as to kidnap children!" His eyes went from one Knight to the next, earnest but also curious. "Tell me: doesn't it _bother_ any of you that we've actually killed people and destroyed whole star systems?"

There was a brief pause as the Knights considered this. Finally, Xavier spoke:

"No. It doesn't. It... shouldn't." His brow furrowed, the way he usually got when digesting complex queries. "We were all doing it together. And besides, technically, Kylo _told_ us to do those things. It doesn't have anything to do with us."

Brevet gawked at his Brother Knight, unable to believe what he was hearing. "You're right - _none_ of it has to do with us! We just committed war crimes because, ya know, somebody else _told_ us to do it! Can't you _see_? We're nothing more than a cult! We can think for ourselves, you do realize that! Right? And I think that keeping an innocent little girl hostage is wrong!"

"Right or wrong - it doesn't matter!" Lombard barked, sounding almost desperate to reassert his authority as the Knight in charge. "She's just a means to an end!"

"An end we're never gonna reach! Don't you _get_ it?!" Brevet was practically screaming himself hoarse now. "Do you take Leia Organa for a fool? She isn't just gonna _give_ us her son or her daughter-in-law. And Ben won't surrender himself either!"

The other Knights were glancing at each other, murmuring. The resolve from their eyes was fading. Brevet could feel the conflict begin to grow in the Force, in every single one of them.

Except for Lombard.

"All right, I've had enough of this," the sadistic Knight growled. "GUARDS!"

Freshly-minted Praetorian Guards suddenly swarmed into the club from a hidden door Brevet had never been aware of, surrounding him and the others. Lombard stood off to one side, grinning smugly.

"By the power vested in me as Deputy Supreme Leader, you are all under arrest for attempts to conspire and commit treason against the First Order!"

" _Deputy_ Supreme Leader?!" Brevet stared.

"And not for long, either," Lombard gave Brevet an ambitious smile. "The Knights of Ren are hereby disbanded. Take them all away to the detention cell block!"

There was an explosive uproar from the five now-defunct Knights as they were all led away in chains.

* * *

Sofia was awoken rather rudely as her cell door suddenly opened, flooding the floorspace around her with light. Then she heard shouting, as her friend - Mr. Brevet - and several of his colleagues were none too gently hustled into her cell and the door was slammed shut behind them.

For a long moment, the posse of Knights and the little girl stared at each other, still stunned by what had just transpired, and completely befuddled as to what to say or do. It was Cassian who finally broke the silence:

"I hate Lombard. There: I said it!"

The others actually groaned at the surreal absurdity of this comment.

"Why didn't we stage a coup when we had a chance?" Theseus grumbled.

"Well, we didn't! And now Lombard is going to assassinate Hux, destroy Kylo and hurt this little thing!" Xavier gestured at Sofia.

Gaia looked like she was about ready to panic - a heavy moment as, with Lombard's forced ascension, she was technically next in line to lead the Knights of Ren. "Brevet. What do we do?"

Brevet frowned and began pacing the floor aimlessly.

"Brevet...?"

"Give me a minute, Gaia! I'm thinking."

So they all thought. And thought. And thought. Suddenly-

"GAHHH!" The angry scream of frustration came from Sofia. And with it, a sudden sparking voltage of energy that narrowly missed whacking Cassian in the face.

"Whoa, girlfriend! Can you _not_ shish-ka-bob me? I've already been hit in the head with an eight ball today..."

"Shut up!" Brevet snapped, all at once inspired as he whipped his head back to Sofia. He regarded her with abject disbelief. "You know how to cast Force lightning?"

Sofia frowned. "What's that?"

"I..." Brevet shook his head. "Never mind! I just need you to do it again - and this time, aim everything you've got at that steel door!"

Sofia faced the door and closed her eyes, trying to will the power back. All the while, Brevet encouraged her.

"That's it. Concentrate. Breathe. Just... _breathe_. Now: reach out. With your anger. Frustration. Let the pain flow through you..."

Sofia did. She was in this cell... separated from her parents... possibly never to see them again...

And there was absolutely nothing she could do about it.

"GAHHH!" Purple and pink bolts of lightning sprang from Sofia's fingertips, slamming into the sealed door before them. For a long time, it held. And then, gradually, the steel began to melt. Splinter. Crack.

"BACK! GET BACK!" Brevet bellowed and shooed the others into a corner of the cell. The energy built and built, heating the area by several degrees. The hairs on everyone's necks stood on end. Finally -

KABAM! The steel door was blasted off its hinges and skitted across the hallway with a screeching shower of sparks. When the dust settled, the Knights all tentatively approached Sofia in utter astonishment.

It was never given any previous thought or discussion. All the Knights knelt before Sofia as one. "Master..." they murmured in unison and with utter seriousness.

Sofia gaped at them. Then she laughed. "Master...?"

She cleared her head. "We have to get out of here, and I don't know the way. So until we get on the _Falcon_ , you're -" and she pointed at Brevet, " - in charge."

"Now _that's_ a promotion I can get behind!" Cassian whooped.

"Yeah, being under Lombard's thumb kinda sucked," Xavier agreed. "Let's go!"

Brevet led the way to the hangar bay. The suns of the nearby planet they were stationed above were beginning to come into view. It was only just dawn, and most of the First Order's manpower was still asleep.

Brevet scooted out of the shadows first, opening the _Falcon_ and getting it ready. He worked quietly yet efficiently, trying to keep his hands from shaking. They weren't gonna get caught, he tried to keep telling himself. All at once, he was frozen by the beam of a spotlight on him.

Lombard Ren was standing a few yards away, aiming a First Order blaster at his former ally with his free hand; the other hand held the spotlight. Slowly, Brevet turned away from the ship, and took one hesistant step, then two, towards his rival.

"Lombard... put that down."

Lombard cocked the gun, flicking it menacingly. "Not another move! Or... I'll shoot!"

Brevet could sense an odd aura of fear enveloping the Deputy Supreme Leader. The... conflict... Encouraged, he tried a different tack.

"Come away with us," and it came out in a plaintive whisper, as he took subtle steps closer, closer still, his eyes never leaving Lombard's and his hands held out in a careful surrender on account of the gun. "Now, before it's too late. And it isn't too late, my old friend."

Lombard jumped, jittery. "Stay back!" he hissed, but Brevet was close enough to now see the gun was wobbling violently. He decided to take a risk.

"Sofia? Fellas..." his cautious voice pinged, bringing the others out of the shadows. Circling behind him, and giving the two Knights a wide berth, one by one, they boarded the ship. Not once did Lombard fire or try to stop them.

The distraction gave Brevet enough time to advance until he was right on top of Lombard. Grabbing for the gun, he pried it, finger by finger, from Lombard's grasp. Their gaze held, fear in the latter's eyes.

"You'll _never_ rule the galaxy," Brevet half-snarled, half-whispered. Then: "You don't have the _guts_."

He overplayed his hand; he knew it in the next moment.

"LIEUTENANT! LIEUTENANT, THEY'RE HERE! THEY'RE HERE, LIEUTENANT!"

Brevet moved fast. He popped a bullet, two into Lombard's chest, so that the Knight crumpled to the ground.

"Brevet, get out of there!" Cassian called, and Brevet ran for the ship, diving aboard.

"Go!"

Gaia roared the _Falcon_ to life, so that they went screaming out of the hangar bay and into space. Brevet clambered into the pilot seat, while Gaia switched to shotgun.

"All right, all right, come on, you old bucket of bolts..." Brevet coaxed the _Falcon_ as if it was a living thing. "I know you don't like me, and frankly you have every right not to, but don't fail me now!" And then he sent up a prayer:

 _Father... help me._

And he gunned the engines into hyperdrive, disappearing just before the first wave of TIE fighters swooped in to blast on them.

* * *

As soon as the _Falcon_ entered Naboo airspace, it was surrounded.

Given a military escort down to the surface, Brevet was ordered to open the ramp and let the ship be re-taken. Sofia was guided under heavy protective guard off onto land, where she was instantly enveloped in crushing hugs and weeping kisses by her adoptive parents.

"Thank the Maker..." Rey choked through her emotions.

"You're safe..." Ben breathed.

Guns drawn on them, Brevet marched off the Falcon with the other Knights flanking him. He strode right up to Ben and looked him dead in the eye.

"Lombard?"

Brevet looked away. "He set us up. I couldn't turn him back... I tried, but... I had to kill him."

There was a moment's pause as Ben digested this information. Then: "You came back," the young Solo noted.

Brevet shrugged. "I am my grandfather's grandson."

This comment caught Rey's attention, as she drifted closer to meet the Knight for the first time.

" _Grandson_? Brevet..." and she peered at him. Something about his eyes, his aura in the Force seemed strangely... _familiar_... "Who are you? What's your name? Your _real_ name?"

Brevet's eyes bored down into hers, even as his voice shook while he gave his reply:

"My name is Owen... Anakin... Skywalker."


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

"I was born to Jedi Master Luke Skywalker and Mara Jade, a bounty hunter who used to work for the Empire," Owen Skywalker, the cousin of Ben Solo, began his tale. He was only able to do so after Poe Dameron had gotten right in his face, and peered at him, before pronouncing No, Luke Skywalker _couldn't_ have had a kid. And then Finn had waved a blaster right under Owen's nose, angrily demanding an explanation. "When I was born, people expected much from me, just as they did with Ben. There was just one problem: for most of my childhood, I couldn't use the Force. Dad always used to say that I was a late bloomer, that I was a _Skywalker_ \- _of course_ the Force had to be with me. And eventually, the Force did awaken in me, when I was in my early teens - 13 or so. But by that time, the damage was done. I had endured years of mockery from some of my father's other Padawans, watched as Ben was elevated to be the golden child, the future of the Jedi. I felt defeated and not at all good about myself. The night the Temple fell, Ben and the others came to me, and told me Dad had tried to murder my only cousin in his sleep. They looked ready to kill me if I did not believe them, and I admit, a part of me was skeptical. But I had a choice to make: join my cousin and live, or stand by my father and die. I chose the former."

Throughout the whole speech, Rey squinted at Owen, curious and enthralled. But also mad. "You were a coward," she stated, not withdrawing the venom from her voice.

Surprisingly, the comment did not seem to sting Owen the way she thought it might. He merely nodded at her, both grimly and forlornly. "You're right. I was a coward."

"Maybe that's why Luke never mentioned to me he had a son."

Owen gave a mirthless laugh. "No, he wouldn't have, would he? As far as he knew, I had either died in the Temple slaughter, or the Knights had abducted me. He would never have imagined that I went with them willingly." He sighed. "And the map? The one Ben nearly went bonkers for trying to get? My mother made that. She spent years tracking down clues about where my father had vanished, and eventually pieced it together. A finished path to where he was. But before she had the chance to use it... she died. I don't know how the map ended up with Lor San Tekka on Jakku, but I have to imagine that it was the will of the Force."

He turned to face everyone. "And now the First Order is crumbling from within. Lombard is dead, and Hux is floundering, unable to effectively harness his power. He's not long for this world." Owen gestured around at the other Knights. "I know we have done many bad things - _unspeakable_ things - in our lives, but..." and he gazed at Rey. "If Ben can be saved by a forgiving, loving person like you, maybe we can be too. We want to help you rebuild the Jedi... if you'll have us."

Probing into his eyes, Rey could clearly see the eyes of his father. The eyes of a Skywalker. She beamed. "Of _course_ we'll have you. All of you! Welcome aboard."

Owen took her hand and squeezed it, a sad yet hopeful smile on his face. "Thank you... my cousin. I am _proud_ to call you that." For he and Rey were now related as cousins by marriage.

Owen now leaned over and whispered in Rey's ears: "I have always wondered, since I felt his death through the Force, but tell me: was the old man happy at the end? At peace?"

Rey held his gaze, even as her eyes shone with tears. "He was. He died a hero."

Owen grinned widely and winked at her. "Of course he did."

* * *

The First Order eventually did fall, culminating in Supreme Leader Hux committing suicide before he could be brought to trial.

Ben and Rey and Sofia Solo set about rebuilding the Jedi, and gleaning all they could from Owen and the other former Knights of Ren. Ben's former colleagues were a big help in finding Force-sensitives, and soon, they were filling to the rafters the new Jedi Temple on Naboo, training in both the Light and Dark Sides of the Force all day long.

And at night, after long days, the little Solo family - all three of them - would curl up in each other's arms, in the large double bed, and fall asleep contentedly.

Just like they did one night, when Rey's gentle voice suddenly pierced the darkness with a question:

"Sofia, sweetie? How would you like to have a little brother or sister?"

* * *

"Our parents are Ben and Rey Solo, Masters of the Jedi. Once upon a time, they fell in love. They came from different worlds and didn't listen to a lot of people because Mommy and Daddy wanted to be together forever. They rescued a little girl named Sofia and loved her as their own. Then, Mommy told Daddy she was going to have a baby. And Mommy and Daddy and Sofia and the baby lived happily ever after. The End," Sofia narrated her favorite bedtime story to baby Anakin, where he lay in his bassinet at the foot of their parents' bed. Ben was already propped up on the pillows, rather enjoying the brief synopsis of how he came to be with his wife and how they made a family together.

From the doorway, Rey watched the sight with a tender smile. "All right, young one: time for bed." And she helped Sofia into her cot, tucking her in and kissing her forehead. "I love you, my sweet."

Sofia beamed. "Good night, Mommy."

And Rey turned out the lights with the Force, before slipping into bed beside her husband and lightly kissing his lips. "I love you."

Ben grinned with eyes full of adoration. "I know."

* * *

 **A/N: I know Mara is no longer canon, but I did not have a better idea for the mother's identity, so I just re-used her. I hope you all enjoyed this story!**


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